Jeff Robbin and Tony Fadell were the co-leads behind the development of the original iPod. Now, 10 years past the iPod's introduction, Jeff Robbin is reportedly in charge of Apple's effort to remake the television. But what of Tony Fadell? He promised Steve Jobs that he wouldn't make anything that would compete with Apple products and instead started a new company, Nest Labs, to remake the thermostat.

Fadell got the idea designing his green home in Tahoe. He was shocked there wasn't a single attractive thermostat on the market so he decided to build his own. The size of the market and the potential impact on the planet convinced him it was a great business. And if he didn't do it, who would? The unit uses the guts of a smart phone and required someone who knows how to build drop-dead-easy user experiences.

The problem I see is that it will learn from people in the house adjusting the thermostat, which at least in my house will NOT be the optimal settings for energy savings. With an "old fashioned" adjustable thermostat I set it up for energy savings and it stays that way. Even if my kids turn up the heat, it is only for the current time segment. The Nest will learn that it should be warmer during that time slot and adjust its settings, thereby eroding the energy savings. That being said, Honeywell could learn a lot about the thermostat interface from the folks at Nest.

I like the nice design and interface, but I'm fine with my current themostat. My current one has been working for 8 years now, has a like 5 programs per day, backlight, AA battery to store settings in case power failure. And it matches my decor.

This "Learning Thermostat" won't fit my house unless I decide to replace all my furniture and detailing with IKEA stuff.

The problem I see is that it will learn from people in the house adjusting the thermostat, which at least in my house will NOT be the optimal settings for energy savings. With an "old fashioned" adjustable thermostat I set it up for energy savings and it stays that way. Even if my kids turn up the heat, it is only for the current time segment. The Nest will learn that it should be warmer during that time slot and adjust its settings, thereby eroding the energy savings. That being said, Honeywell could learn a lot about the thermostat interface from the folks at Nest.

Right, but it also learns via presence when you are not there, and turns the heat down. So the point is to make it comfortable when you want it, and then to save energy when you are not there. All automatically.

The interviewer is so aggrivating. She does the "mmm, hmm" about 500 times. It was so distracting and all I did was focus on it.

That's Sarah Lacy, she ALWAYS does that.

Anyway, the thermostat looks interesting, I've often thought to myself the same thing, that current thermostats always suck and could be designed a lot better. That said, his pitch was a little weird...incident light reflecting...hmm, yeah. Well, if I ever have enough money for a big house, I'll buy one!

Next big thing for Apple should be a standard automotive interface. Could even be literally an iPad behind the dashboard (which would therefore be easily upgradeable), with a few peripheral electronics. Think about it, they have the software tech, the touch screens, music, video, GPS and mapping, text messaging, phone calls, wireless setup, upgrading and media and contact syncing, hands-free operation (Siri), pretty much everything they need.

If you watch the promo videos, and the installation support videos on the nest website you'll see that this a pretty amazing product. In fact, I've been waiting for something like this for years. I'll be ordering one as soon as it's available.

Anyway, the thermostat looks interesting, I've often thought to myself the same thing, that current thermostats always suck and could be designed a lot better. That said, his pitch was a little weird...incident light reflecting...hmm, yeah. Well, if I ever have enough money for a big house, I'll buy one!

Next big thing for Apple should be a standard automotive interface. Could even be literally an iPad behind the dashboard (which would therefore be easily upgradeable), with a few peripheral electronics. Think about it, they have the software tech, the touch screens, music, video, GPS and mapping, text messaging, phone calls, wireless setup, upgrading and media and contact syncing, hands-free operation (Siri), pretty much everything they need.

...except for a willing car company. No car company would allow a 1024x768 display with GPS/iPhone/handsfree and one that's upgradable when they can charge $3000 for an inferior version as part of a "technology" package.

This guy just gets no love! Remember when the iPod came out? No one thought it would be successful. You could literally replace the words in some of the above comments with iPod, and we're back in 2001. This guy's going to make a ton a money on this, definitely one of those markets people thought didn't need change.

1--his delivery reminds me more of s jobs than anyone else I've heard (ok, it reflects the wAll color…)
2--if you keep striving for the lead, won't you adjust to 72, and next time it'll take 73 to get the leaf, then 74 and 75 and so on? What ends the escalation? Are you like a frog that never jumps from the warming pot til he's boiled?
3--can you monitor the thermostat fro
Your phone? Program it? Seems a waste of smart phone technology if you can't.

I can see how this would be worthwhile for anyone who still has an old mechanical (non-programmable) thermostat. It will easily pay for itself in energy savings.

But for everyone who already moved to programmable thermostats over the last 10-15 years, it's not such a great deal (especially at $250) as you've already reduced energy consumption and Nest is probably not going to reduce it much further, unless you've just done a poor job of programming your existing one.

The question I would like answered is does it have a pet mode? I would hate to come home one winter evening and the thermostat is set to 60 and the cat and dog are both sick. I know it has a motion detector. Is it sensitive enough to pick up the 4-legged habitants of the house? I am sure the temp can just be adjusted from the iPhone app, but if this can done automatically sign me up. Any way I can save money and automate a part of my house I am all for it.

I’ve long wished to see Apple’s simplicity and ease-of-use extended to other markets/devices in my life. Every now and then, I get my wish! And this one could also help the planet.

(More often, companies fumble towards for Apple “style,” as if the superficial is what makes Apple great. They forget that design is how a thing works, to paraphrase Jobs, and they end up with something a little simpler-looking than the rest, but not that efficient to use.)